Hamilton-Wenham girls lacrosse gives Chase reason for optomism

Thursday

May 2, 2013 at 12:01 AMMay 2, 2013 at 2:18 AM

In her third year as varsity coach of the Hamilton-Wenham girls lacrosse team, Amanda Chase can fairly call this her program.

And after two seasons of steady improvement, the Generals have taken off in the first half of 2013. The team has won seven of its first eight matches and is just two wins shy of last year’s total of nine. In Chase’s first season, 2011, the team only won two.

Dom Nicastro / Correspondent

In her third year as varsity coach of the Hamilton-Wenham girls lacrosse team, Amanda Chase can fairly call this her program.

And after two seasons of steady improvement, the Generals have taken off in the first half of 2013. The team has won seven of its first eight matches and is just two wins shy of last year’s total of nine. In Chase’s first season, 2011, the team only won two.

“The biggest thing is just the girls experience,” said Chase, the former collegiate lacrosse standout out of Danvers. “For instance, on the defense, we’ve got three starters who have played together the last two years. They are comfortable playing with each other. Most of the starting lineup has played together, and that’s the biggest thing for us overall. The girls are experienced, and it seems like so far it has all kicked in.”

It’s kicked in because Hamilton-Wenham is kicking away goals while having no trouble finding the back of the net. It has 102 goals for an average of about 12 goals per game and has allowed 67 for an average of eight.

Twelve different players have scored goals this season. And in each game through eight contests, the Generals have had at least five goal-scorers.

“Having 12 different girls score is huge obviously,” Chase. “It shows our depth on the bench and in the starting lineup. Everyone is capable of scoring.”

Emily Gaucher certainly is. She leads the team with 32 goals and is scoring in “all types of situations,” her coach said.

“She has been scoring off our transition, which has been really improving the past few games,” Chase said. “We struggled with it at first but are really coming along. We’re getting fast breaks, and Emily with her speed scores a lot off those. She also scores in settle-down offense. She gets into the right position.”

Defensively, goalie Morgan Kimball has been huge. She had 21 saves in a 12-8 win of Arlington Catholic at home April 27, Hamilton-Wenham’s seventh victory.

“Morgan has been doing great for us,” Chase said of the three-year starter. “She averages probably about 8-10 saves per game. With our schedule we haven’t played the toughest of teams yet, but she’s seen some really good shooters and has made some really legitimate saves.”

“Their field awareness is awesome, and they’re pretty good at communication,” Chase said. “They know how to talk to each other. They know each other’s language on the field, which is awesome. Their leadership on defense ties in with the rest of the girls – they all know how to talk to each other.”

Chase said the team will be in a dogfight for the league title the whole season. They are in Division 2 of the Cape Ann League, where they are 3-1 alongside Manchester Essex, the lone team to beat Hamilton-Wenham (13-11, April 10). Ipswich is 2-0 in the league.

“We have a lot of tough games coming up, and I think it’s going to be close,” Chase said.